Short Summary

In France on Monday (6 February), hundreds of postal workers marched through the streets of Paris to protest at the dismissal of a part-time postman.

Description

In France on Monday (6 February), hundreds of postal workers marched through the streets of Paris to protest at the dismissal of a part-time postman. The man, Mr Francois Llamas, was sacked 16 months ago for alleged indiscipline.

SYNOPSIS: The march through Paris was the latest in a series of protests about the dismissal of Mr Llamas. Two days before, half the postmen in the capital had gone on strike over the affair.

The strike disrupted postal services, but only Paris was affected.

The dismissed postman has the support of the Communist-led postal workers' trade union and despite his dismissal had continued to turn up for work at a sorting office in an Eastern suburb of Paris. At the office a number of stoppages have been staged to draw attention to his case.

Last Friday (3 February) French police moved into the sorting office to remove a number of postal workers who were staging a sit-in. The authorities justified this action as necessary in order to clear a backlog of half a million letters.

The police move, however, provoked immediate industrial action which the union has said could spread well beyond the Paris area.